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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

Good topic, spatial. (I don't post in this section, but saw it in the 'Recent Posts'.)

Good organists -any organists really- are getting scarce, and small churches often end up hiring a pianist willing to press a foot pedal or two. There's plenty of music published with those people in mind, a lot of it by Lorenz.

My humble (but experienced) advice: if you're not a Christian, why bring it up? If you can use the money, then by all means go for it. A church music committee isn't necessarily going to fish too deeply, not if they know what's good for them. A conservative church may find a non-Christian objectionable, but that is not for them to know.

I'm Anglican myself and prefer to substitute for C of E (Anglican) churches, but I'm on the substitute list for churches of other denominations and I simply don't go into details about my religious beliefs. OTOH, I've been trained as a church organist so it's less of an issue. Take me or leave me.

Personally I avoid calls from RC churches as (in the UK at least) they tend to have the worst organs (if any at all) and almost non-existent choral programs.

Most churches that hire professional musicians (organists and choir directors) base their hiring decisions on qualifications and ability, not personal religious convictions. Some denominations screen applicants to disqualify individuals that are not "like minded" in their beliefs, so as not to be incompatible with their members who participate in the music program. Like Amant wrote above, as long as you are not critical of their religion and keep your personal opinion to yourself, it probably would not be an issue. If you are of a different religious background (such as Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc.), but are familiar with the Christian liturgy and can perform all the music required, they should respect your beliefs.

of course denominations each have their repertoire. if you are a good enough sight reader to totally wing it, you needn't worry (doubt if you'll even check back to this thread, it's been so long). i would pick a denomination (perhaps the largest in your metro, find the music they use and contact the churches,.

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accompanist/organist.. a non-MTNA teacher to a few

Thanks for the advice everyone. It seems like I should just not bring it up. I didn't want to feel like I was deceiving anybody. Sight-reading is not really a problem for me, so I don't think I need to spend time learning repertoire. At least not at the level I'm playing, since most churches I've been in contact with are happy to have anyone at all.

Mark_C
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/11/09
Posts: 21045
Loc: New York

A little off the subject, but maybe to put this in perspective: Some churches in these parts (NY area) are even taking on PASTORS of a different denomination! (Although in this case we're talking denominations, not non-Christian, but look..... it's about the pastor!)

I don't think you have to worry about it at all.

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"Everything I say is my opinion, including the facts." :-)

As an Organist, albeit a young one, I can tell you that (at least in the UK) any kind of organisation which requires an Organ to be played will hire ANY Organist - they just seem to be in such short supply!

I am Christian, although I have played in all sorts of strange places including communes, private functions and even a Masonic lodge... About your position, a friend of mine who used to work as an Organist around the county and has now gone to study as an Organ Scholar at Cambridge, is not Christian, so I don't think you need to worry at all!

off topic but have you ever seen "carnival of souls" a horror movie from 1962? It's about an organist who isn't very religious and takes a job for a church, and bad undead things happen. It was filmed at the saltair pavillion (which has been long ago torn down, but was abandoned even at the time).

At one point, the priest screams out "Profane! Profane!" to the organist. I don't think that'll happen to you.

To answer your question, it is going to depend on the Church. I'm Lutheran and although we would prefer our organist / choir director to be Christian also it isn't a requirement. For a sub we wouldn't even ask. I've been in a Lutheran Church where the Organist was Jewish and it wasn't an issue. We would ask about your religious affiliation and beliefs when interviewing a full time organist, if the choice came down between a Christian and a non-Christian the Christian would almost always win out.

There are church's out there (I've found this a lot in congregational church's) that do believe that people leading their worship need to be spirit led, and will not hire non-believers to lead music in their congregations. My advice if asked be honest, if you're not asked Don't volunteer the information. If it is important to the church that is hiring you that you be a believer they will ask you.

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Retired Army reserve Bandsman who now plays for the Joy of Music!!

It is important to be familiar with the rites of the service.. to know what music is played when. I'm Catholic, we have perhaps 10 - 20 different Mass settings to play the service music. It's easy enough, but one needs to know the cues.

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accompanist/organist.. a non-MTNA teacher to a few

I agree. Don't ask and don't tell. Organists are becoming scarce and it is sad. I am having a harder and harder time finding someone to sub for me and therefore can't take off very often. This summer, I may resort to a piano player.

I agree. Don't ask and don't tell. Organists are becoming scarce and it is sad. I am having a harder and harder time finding someone to sub for me and therefore can't take off very often. This summer, I may resort to a piano player.

Exactly! "Don't ask -- don't tell". No better advice.

I've played for many church traditions in my life. At the moment, a short traditional service in CofE, and a Unitarian Chapel. But I don't tell each about the other.

I'm a Jewish atheist. My high school music teacher (I grew up in Germany) was Catholic, and organist at a local church. I occasionally helped him with the organ (repairs, tuning), and was allowed to occasionally practice on it. A few times, when he got sick and couldn't find a suitable substitute, he'd call me. He would leave me detailed instructions, and sheet music of easy stuff. The chorales I had to improvise, but that's easy (for someone who has learned how to write 4-part harmony and has read lots of Bach). By the way, my pedal technique is barely good enough for a 1-4-5 bass, but that's better than having no organist at all. When in doubt, use the left hand on the lower manual instead of the pedal, it's safer.

On those days, I would always check in with the priest first thing, to make sure he knew that he didn't have the regular organist. The real problem for me wasn't so much the playing of the organ, but knowing the exact order of the service. I was always afraid that I would start playing at the wrong time, or forget to play at the right time. The priest (a kindly older gentleman) would explain the order to me beforehand, and give me clues by looking up at the organ balcony when he needed me to come in.

The other hard part is accompanying a chorus of complete amateurs of on average advanced age. I had been warned to start the chorales with an 8-bar intro in a good speedy tempo, because the congregation would start dragging. Then while they sing, I had to deliberately push the tempo, to prevent things from coming to a grinding halt. Man, those folks sang badly. For a chamber musician who has been accustomed to often play with a soloist (for example when I helped my violinist friends practice concertos), it was quite hard to have to lead instead of follow. Add to that the acoustics of a church (you don't hear the singing for a while, and when you play something the echo stays around), and it was a bit hair-raising, until you get the hang of it.

I never accepted any remuneration for this task; I only did it as a favor for my teacher (typically when he had the flu). I never mingled with the congregation afterwards, as I was clearly an outsider (both in age and in religion). The priest was grateful to have anyone; he knew about my rather different religion (being Jewish in Germany was quite unusual back then), and didn't make a big deal of it.

Still, I think it would be best to actually believe in the stuff that the church you're playing in is doing. I always felt very out of place.

P.S. Another weird story: Instead of military service, I became an ambulance driver and paramedic. Part of our training was to perform emergency baptisms ... if you are called to help a dying infant, then religious parents may ask for any person of authority to perform the baptism before the infant passes away, since unbaptized babies supposedly have real issues with going to heaven, according to more traditionalist views. And we were told that you don't have to be from the right denomination, nor religious, and even a Christian to perform a baptism "in extremis"; canon law allows any person of good intentions to do it. So I learned a few short phrases. Most fortunately, I never had to deal with either a dying infant or having to baptize anyone; surely it would have been a terrible experience.

Treelogger, I enjoyed reading your post! Did you do social service instead of military service in Germany? In catholic churches believe it or not, I think there are still areas where women are not allowed to go, very strictly speaking, that may include non christians playing the organ? But as mentioned, I wouldn't mention affiliation unless asked - and in any case most Christians are only too happy for the opportunity to get you into the fold!

Indeed, I refused to do military service (super-easy, being Jewish means your request for non-military service is immediately honored). But then, instead of the usual civilian service (of 24 months continuously) I signed up for a program of evenings and weekends for 10 years. The idea was to do ambulance dispatch on evenings, and ambulance driving and teaching first-aid classes on weekends. All this came to naught after the military declared me to be unsuitable for service ... due to having braces! And if you can't serve in the armed forces, you are also not required to perform civilian service.

As far as restrictions on women in churches goes, by the 70s and 80s German catholic churches were quite liberal. I've not met a female church organist, but they do exist; there were certainly female acolytes and lectors (matter-of-fact, as an undergraduate I used to date a lady who was the chief acolyte of her parish, and sat on the parish board or council; didn't prevent her from dating unbelievers). On the other hand, her parish priest used to go shopping while holding hands with his "housekeeper", and used to squeeze her in public. He has since been promoted to Monsignore. The commandment of chastity was mostly honored in the breach.

I would challenge any "non-Christian" to be able to effectively lead worship from the organ.

In my preparation for a service, I prayerfully sing through all the hymns, voluntaries (if they have words) and choral etc works. In this and other ways, I spend as much time preparing myself spiritually for the awesome task of leading a congregation to be able to worship God, as I do with the musical stuff which I believe can only flow out of the preceding preparation.

I would challenge any "non-Christian" to be able to effectively lead worship from the organ.

In my preparation for a service, I prayerfully sing through all the hymns, voluntaries (if they have words) and choral etc works. In this and other ways, I spend as much time preparing myself spiritually for the awesome task of leading a congregation to be able to worship God, as I do with the musical stuff which I believe can only flow out of the preceding preparation.

Indeed, I know people who think they can skip the musical part of preparation as long as they are spiritually ready.

I would challenge any "non-Christian" to be able to effectively lead worship from the organ.

In my preparation for a service, I prayerfully sing through all the hymns, voluntaries (if they have words) and choral etc works. In this and other ways, I spend as much time preparing myself spiritually for the awesome task of leading a congregation to be able to worship God, as I do with the musical stuff which I believe can only flow out of the preceding preparation.

I'm glad your preparation ritual works for you, and knowing the hymn lyrics is imparative to selecting appropriate registrations. In my experience I've sang in church choirs with paid organists who where non-christians and they have done exemplary jobs. To imply that a non-christain organist can't effectively lead a worhip service isn't a subtantiatable claim, and my experience is the opposite. I agree that it is better if the Organist is a believer, but if you have a choice between no organist, and an organist who is proficient on his instrument but doesn't believe the same things you do, I would choose the proficient organist.

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Retired Army reserve Bandsman who now plays for the Joy of Music!!